


You're the only thing I think I got right

by sensibleshoes28



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel Deserves to be Happy (Supernatural), Dean Winchester Deserves to be Happy, Domestic Fluff, Episode Fix-It: s15e20 Carry On, Episode: s15e20 Carry On, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, Human Castiel (Supernatural), Hurt/Comfort, Jack deserves to be happy, M/M, Post-Episode: s15e20 Carry On, Sam Winchester Deserves to be Happy, no beta we die like Cas and Dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:22:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27654047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sensibleshoes28/pseuds/sensibleshoes28
Summary: Before he can make the lunge to the corridor, Cas, in all his glory, wrapped in his trench coat, tie and all the things Dean can stare at for hours, rounds the corner and looks up at him.He’s holding a plate topped with a simple PB&J sandwich with the crusts cut away.Dean freezes and he thinks, 'maybe I did die'But then Cas smiles bashfully and churns out a; “I missed the taste of PB&J”orDean doesn't die in the barn, Cas can enjoy the taste of PB&J again, and there's a whole bonus chapter of happiness and hunting because why not.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Comments: 15
Kudos: 187





	1. Hope and I Pray

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't exactly great, but I needed to get it out. They deserved so much more, and so do we. Hope you guys feel even a teensy bit better.

_Lover of mine_  
_Maybe we'll take some time_  
_Kaleidoscope mind_  
_Gets in the way_  
_Hope and I pray_  
_Darling, that you will stay_  
_Butterfly lies_  
_Chase them away_

.Lover of Mine, 5sos.

The air is stale and heavy, and even as his eyelids flicker from pain and exhaustion, he can see little flecks of dust swirl and dance before they settle on the grubby floor and motionless bodies of those masked freaks.

He’s seriously bummed about being killed in a musty barn, by a fucking vamp wearing a dollar store mask. A wet laugh bubbles up as he thinks about the fact that Chuck is still out there, alive and well, as he bleeds out in Old McDonald’s fucking barn. He’d probably be laughing his ass off.

He raises his head and blinks owlishly at Sam, who’s lips are quivering and look like they’re threatening to spill some crap about how this isn’t the end.

He can’t feel the rebar or nail that’s buried between his shoulder blades anymore and figures that’s a good thing, at least he won’t die wracked with pain. He wonders if Cas felt any pain when he-

Sam curls a fist into his jacket and Dean hisses, “Sam, hey.”

His little brother straightens up and Dean can spare himself a little smile and marvels at how much taller Sam is, but so much more vulnerable to the world.

“You gotta promise me something alright,” he manages to breathe out, “that you’ll be okay.”

Faintly, he can hear Sam suck in a breath, but before he can argue, Dean grits his teeth and swallows. “You’ll always be my little brother Sammy, and the one thing that I’ll always be proud of. So, you have to promise me th-“

A sharp ringing begins to echo in the barn and both Dean and Sam slam their eyes shut. It hurts and it hurts and it hurts and for a quick second, he yearns for the sharp sting of the handprint that was seared into his arm, and echo of a hand that saved him, time and time again.

The ringing fades out and Dean opens his eyes to find himself two feet away from the metal bar with Sam breathing heavily beside him. He twists his shoulder blades and back to find his muscles knitted back together, and his heart, although its been empty for weeks, pumps with renewed fervour.

A flash of tan catches the corner of his eye and he freezes to see Jack, wringing his hand together with a timid smile on his face. He looks exactly as he was, undisturbed by the perilous job of whatever God did in his free time.

Jack tilts his head and Dean’s breath falters as he’s hit with how much Jack looks like Cas, all raised cheeks and slanted eyes. His tan jacket serves as a shy reminder of the trench coat.

Sam looks at him and lets out a shaky laugh before running up to Jack and lifting him up in a tight hug. It takes a moment before Jack wraps his arm around Sam’s tall frame.

Letting go, Sam laughs again, “how… I thought- I don’t…”

“I did tell you things were going to be different,” Jack smiles, “I was in the middle of restoring heaven, but I couldn’t let you in before I was done, it would ruin the surprise.”

Dean still can’t form any coherent words but manages to take some wobbly steps towards him and Jack eyes grow in innocence, “that was a joke,” he says quickly.

Grabbing him by the arm, Dean pulls Jack into a hug and places a kiss in his hair, “Thanks kid,” he manages to whisper.

And if Dean can’t hide his smile when Jack hugs him a little tighter, that’s nobody’s business but his.

They walk out to Baby and Dean turns his face up to the sparkling sky, breathing in the cold air. He feels his lungs sigh as he escapes the gritty air in the barn.

Sam lifts the hood and looks at Jack, “You coming? We can watch a movie and shake up some popcorn and- “

Sam’s cut off by Jack shaking his head, “I still have some errands to run,” he smiles, “Being Me is hard.”

“Bet it is.” Dean claps him on the shoulder, “But you can stop by anytime you like and I’ll whip you up those cereal cookies you like.” Anything to have Jack stay.

Jack beams at him and Dean is thrown into a memory.

_These make me… very happy_

He grabs the door handle and relishes in the familiar creak it emits before swallowing, “See you later, kid.”

\--- --- --- --- --- 

They trudge into the bunker and Dean feels tired, but he’s felt tired all his life, so it hardly causes a dent in the swirl of emotions he’s felt the past couple weeks.

He’d feel tired if it could get past the wall of grief.

He feels guilty, as if he’s supposed to be happy now. That’s what Cas would’ve wanted. That’s what Cas said he deserved.

But he can’t bring himself to look at himself in a mirror with full conviction that he’s happy, that he has everything he could ever want, when he can’t even look at a tan jacket without his breath catching in his throat.

They both make it down the staircase and Dean throws his duffel bag on the table, Sam following suit shortly after.

As he’s dragging a chair out to drop into, they hear a scraping noise from the kitchen.

They bolt up and Sam grabs a gun from his duffle as Dean pulls one out from his waistband.

He signals to Sam to go the other way and then straightens his back, ready to pounce. He hears his shoes squeak in anticipation.

Before he can make the lunge to the corridor, Cas, in all his glory, wrapped in his trench coat, tie and all the things Dean can stare at for hours, rounds the corner and looks up at him. 

He’s holding a plate topped with a simple PB&J sandwich with the crusts cut away.

Dean freezes and he thinks, _maybe I did die_

But then Cas smiles bashfully and churns out a; “I missed the taste of PB&J”

Dean’s gun clatters to the ground, but he can’t hear it as he takes a step towards Cas.

“You… You’re really here?”

He doesn’t want to say it out loud, because that means he’s acknowledged it. He doesn’t want to be left alone again.

Cas’s smile falters, his face flickering with something for a second and he takes a step backwards, “Jack brought me here and I thought…” his voice wavers and his fingers curl to grip the plate he’s currently holding tighter. “I could leave if you want me to, I’m human now, but I never intended to- “

Dean places a hand on Cas’s cheek and feels the rough stubble as he slides the hand further back to touch the soft hair that he’s been meaning to touch for years.

Its feels so unreal, and he wonders if this is maybe some kind of torture. Still, he marvels in the way Cas’s eyes flutter ever so slightly as his nails scrape the back of his head.

“You’re really here?” he asks again, and he’s spiraling, because he’s here. _He’s here_.

_He’s here._

And he wants with every fibre of his being to pull Cas in, he wants to revel in never letting go again, he wants to stay here with Cas in this moment forever. He wants and he _wants_ and _he wants._

He finally allows himself to want.

But first;

“I love you.”

He tilts his head, leans closer and mouths it against Cas’s jaw, “I love you”

He whispers it into his temple.

Not so much a revelation, but simply what he promised to never say, because he could never allow himself to _have._

And he laughs quietly as he feels Cas’s free hand slide up back under his jacket.

_I love you_ he thinks, when their lips finally brush and Dean can only think of the word _home._


	2. I'll never give you away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> closure.

I'll never give you away  
'Cause I've already made that mistake  
If my name never fell off your lips again  
I know it'd be such a shame  
When I take a look at my life  
And all of my crimes  
You're the only thing that I think I got I right

  
“I mean, think about it,” Dean muses, “you, me, a couple ghosts and one hell of a hotel room all to ourselves.” He waggles his eyebrows for effect.

Cas looks unimpressed as they lounge at the library, laptops running hot from scrolling.

“Aren’t we supposed to be looking for places where we can open your bar?”

Dean can’t help but trace his eyes over Cas’s build, windswept hair and rolled up sleeves. If it weren’t for the fact that the table looked mighty uncomfortable for extracurricular activities at his age, he would’ve jumped Cas’s bones half an hour ago.

Cas spares him an unimpressed glance when Dean winks.

“Dean” he groused, and Dean can never get over the way Cas says his name. he remembers angels and demons alike growling out his last name as if it was written in stone, a constant reminder that he was there simply because they called for a _Winchester._

But Cas had always said his name with such conviction.

_Dean_. Because that’s who he is.

“You intend to leave Sam here alone? You know he’s been sulking ever since Eileen had to take that case two days ago.”

“He wont be alone! Miracle’ll keep him company.” Dean grumbles.

“The dog? Really?” Cas sighs “Dean, he’s been texting Eileen every 15 minutes. You could at least drag him along for this case to keep him distracted.”

“But-“

\--- --- --- --- ---

Dean grumbles as Sam kicks his seat. “Seriously guys, I’m all for you two being mushy, but Dean, if you get distracted and swerve off the road, you’re gonna regret not letting me sit shotgun.”

Rolling his eyes, he looks towards his right to find Cas looking out the window.

He turns to simply give Dean a gentle smile and Dean forgets to snap at Sam for ruining what was supposed to be his impromptu mini honeymoon hunt.

Some half hour and secret car handholding later, Baby rumbles to a stop in front a brightly lit hotel. It has tall pillars welcoming its guests and warm yellow lights leading inside.

Dean whistles and throws an arm over Cas. He feels Cas snuggle into his side and he suppresses his grin, pulling them both along the entrance.

They order two rooms and Dean has to drag Cas up to their room with him yawning into Dean’s neck.

“I like sleeping.” Cas whispers.

Dean chuckles airily and noses at his temple, “Just a little more, and then you can sleep.”

He catches a dopey smile out of the corner of his eye and makes sure to memorize it.

Morning arrives and Dean wakes to Cas underneath him, slow and steady breathing indicating that he’s still fast asleep.

He presses a feather – light kiss to Cas’s throat and moves upwards, pressing kisses to chin, then his cheeks, leading up to his nose, and grazing his eyelids before placing a final kiss between his eyebrows.

Stirring, Cas peeks at him through half – lidded eyes, and grumbles, “What time is it?”

If Dean thought Cas’s regular voice stirred something deep within him, his morning voice would be downright _sinful._ “Morning sunshine, its 9:30”

“Ugh _Dean_.” He grouches.

“C’mon, up we go” he nudges at Cas as he gets out of bed. “We gotta visit the station.”

They stumble out of bed and help each other slip into their clothes. Dean hasn’t seen Cas wear his trench coat in weeks so he begs Cas to put it on.

“Its warm Dean, and I can no longer pay no mind to the temperature.”

“just humour me, _please.”_ He licks a stripe directly under Cas’s jaw, “For me.”

Cas sniffs but ultimately shrugs the coat on and Dean doesn’t notice the way his eyes smile in the familiarity.

They meet up with Sam downstairs and agree to meet each other at the hotel after Sam finishes up at the morgue. The free buffet breakfast is heaven – sent and Dean spends most of the time shoveling food into Cas’s mouth and marvelling at the way his eyes spark with discovery.

Dean tries to restrain himself from attacking Cas with kisses when Cas hums and lets out a; “I forgot how much I enjoyed bacon.”

“You’re a bad influence Dean”

“If you start going on about your little ‘veggie tales’ I’m gonna have to eat more of this crispy bacon.”

Sam shoots him a disgusted look and eyes his plate, mumbling words that sound like “oily” and “crime.”

\--- --- --- --- ---

Dean and Cas walk into the station and are met with a female South Indian sheriff. She looks to be somewhat middle – aged with crow’s feet lining the corner of her eyes.

They’re standing in front of her desk, where piles of paperwork are stacked neatly. There’s a photo frame with a picture of a golden retriever, tongue lolling out of his mouth in a happy smile.

She gives them a polite nod and Cas nods right back. Dean is mesmerized by the way he pulls his badge out and flashes it, a long way from when he couldn’t even tell which way was up.

Dean feels something stir in the pits of his stomach as he watches Cas converse with the sheriff. His straight back and his ‘all business, no pleasure’ demeanour is currently doing a number to Dean.

Cas spares Dean a glance and all Dean can do is try not to melt on the spot, how he managed to keep it all together years ago, he will never know.

He finally tunes into the conversation going on and hears the sheriff sigh, “The body was found in this old restaurant, by the side of Baker’s Road. It closed last week since that place is a goddamn hotspot for crazy shit. Two lefts and the third exit at the roundabout should bring you there.”

“Thank you Sheriff.”

“My pleasure boys,” the sheriff drawls, moving her chair backwards to stand and shake their hands.

As they walk out, Cas frowns a him, “Are you alright Dean? You seemed quiet.”

Dean simply placed a hand on the small dip of Cas’s back and steered them out of the station. He walked fast, making sure that they both made it out quickly.

“Dean?” Cas asks, clearly confused, “Dean what are you – _oof_! “

They’re finally in a seemingly secluded place and Dean slams Cas against the beige exterior of the station. He looks around wildly to check if anyone’s watching them. _Coast is clear_ he muses before leaning in to kiss Cas deeply.

Cas melts bonelessly against him and Dean rucks his hands under his shirt, untucking the starchy white material.

Cas moans and all Dean can do is kiss him harder, absolutely enthralled when Cas bunches his hands into his suit jacket, trying desperately to hold on.

“Oh God, _Dean.”_ Cas whimpers and Deans mind becomes so hazy and slow, he can barely wade through the thick wave of heat he feels. He’s about to drag them both to Baby but right then and there, his phone vibrates in his pocket.

Groaning, he ignores it, and proceeds to bite the skin under Cas’s jaw, and then lick it apologetically. They both whine when Cas nudges his leg in between Dean’s and Dean looks up, panting, to look at Cas’s face, where his mouth hangs half open breath heavily, and his eyes are shut, not letting even a ribbon of the bright blue underneath to peek out.

Dimly, he’s aware that his phones still ringing but dives back in to kiss Cas with fervour when Cas moves out of his way.

“Your phone is ringing.” He says.

“I know, its probably just Sam.” Dean says quickly before leaning in to kiss Cas again. He can’t feel his phone buzzing anymore and smirks. They kiss until they’re panting for air again but just as Cas mouths mindless words under his ear, the phone buzzes again.

Cas pulls back and Dean whines, tugging on his lapels to pull him back in but Cas is adamant.

“Answer the phone Dean.”

Dean throws his head back and groans, “Should’ve left him at home,”

He’s still grumbling as he digs the phone out of his pocket. Cas slides his hands up his suit jack to rest firmly against his back, two spots of heat seeping through his shirt.

“Sam?”

“Hey, so I’m done, and I was thinking we could meet at the place where they found the guy.”

“Mm.”

“I’ll send you the address.”

“No, its fine, we got it,” he grumbles out, pressing end call.

He looks up to Cas giving him an easy smile and he cant help but smile back. “We ain’t done here,” he smirks, “there’s unfinished business to be resolved.”

Still sporting the soft smile, he replies without a beat; “I’m counting on it.”

The building looks pretty normal. There’s a wooden deck out front and beautiful mahogany doors. Its plenty spacious inside, rich brown colours lining the wall and blending into the floor.

They had walked past a ‘For Sale’ sign, and none of them noticed when Cas snapped a picture of it.

“So, this spirit’s offed three chefs so far.” Sam supplies, his shoes making satisfying tapping noises as he walks.

“A food critic eh?” Dean snorts, “bet he’d like my triple bacon burger special.”

Sam’s lips pinch together in somewhat disgust. “Anyways, all three chefs died in some kind freak – horror accident. Boiling pit of oil, stray meat cleaver, you name it.”

Dean sighs, he looks over to Cas who’s furiously typing on his phone. “Alright, time to scrounge for anything that’s causing it to hang back here.”

Cas hums absently and the three of them move around, digging though kitchen utensils and old things lying around.

Sam eventually finds a small wooden box that was smack dot in the middle of the office table far back into the restaurant. The moment he lays a finger on it, the temperature drops and Dean cocks his shotgun.

“What’s inside?”

Prying the box open, Sam replies with a terse; “Teeth.”

Cas walks towards Sam and peers into it, his eyes squinting. “That’s disgusting.”

“Stop yapping and light it up.” Dean growls, “Its here.”

As if on cue, a short and stout man flickers into view. He’s wearing a grubby apron and his feet are bare. It seems as if he’s balding.

“Well aren’t you one fugly little dude.”

Sam flicks his lighter open and drops it into the box. Immediately, the ghost screams and his whole being catches on fire and goes up in smoke.

Cas chuckles and grounds out a; “that was easy.”

“Dude,” Dean turns towards Sam, “you just aced that guy from ratatouille.”

“ _What”_

“You know, that chef guy who was like, the owner of the restaurant or something. He was like obsessed with Remy.”

“Remy?” Cas asks.

“The _rat._ That’s it, we’re watching ratatouille when we get back.”

\--- --- --- --- ---

As they’re walking out, Cas places a hand on Dean’s arm. He stops Dean right outside on the deck.

“This place is for sale.” He says gently.

Dean keeps quiet, waiting for Cas to continue. The hand slides up to his shoulder.

“You were looking for places to maybe build your bar, and I thought… this place looks beautiful.”

A beat.

“I looked up the agent and the place and no one wants to buy it because of all the accidents.”

Dean had never considered the possibility that he’d ever have this. Its exactly why he was scrolling through potential hunts when he was supposed to be looking at places to perhaps set up his bar or establishment.

He’s scared because he realizes that hunting has been all he’s ever known. It’s all his father ever taught him, and it was all that he associated with his mother now. He swallows and takes a breath.

He closes his eyes and feels the broad hand on his shoulder. He hears Sam shuffling round the car, and he feels Jack in the soft breeze whipping around his ankles.

It’s different now, and if he can build himself a family, he can build himself the life that he wants to live. _He can build himself a bar._

He opens his eyes and finds Cas staring at him worriedly. Instead of say anything, he plants a loud kiss on Cas’s lips and pulls him into a hug. They’re wrapped around each other they’re warm and Cas is _here_. He looks towards the place and takes in the brown and beige hues, the wooden swirls and the sheer welcoming look and he smiles.

He can be scared, but he’s also home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not the best, but I hope you enjoyed it even a little.

**Author's Note:**

> The next chapter is fluff, domesticity and some sort of closure because I couldn't sleep.  
> Thank you so much for reading this, and I hope you guys are okay. 
> 
> stay safe <3
> 
> p.s. all mistakes are mine.


End file.
